Front sight for firearms.



OR 651.514 5R L Patented 1m 12; 1900. w. F. SHEARD.

FRONT SIGHT FOR FIREARMS.

(Application filed Mar. 20, 1899.|

(No Model.)

V ynv ssss W INVENT R 4/ Q lmrn -,v THE HOflRIS PETER.) O, PNOYO'LITNDY. WASNINUTON, D4 6,

WILLIAM F. SIlEARD, OF TACOMA, VASHINGTON.

FRONT SIGHT FOR FIREARMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 651 ,514, dated J'une 12, 1900. Application filed March 20,1899. Serial No. 709,787. (No model.)

T0 or whom it 11mg concern;

30 it known that I, WILLIAM F. SHEARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tacoma, in the county of Pierce and State of \Vashingt-omhavc invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Front Sights for Firearms, of which the following is aspecification.

My in vention relates to front sights for tirearms, and especially sporting-rifles, and has for one of its objects to provide a sight in which the rays of light no matter from which direction the lightcomes will be invariably reflected to the center of the bead, thereby preventing the hunter from being misled, as in the case of the sight now in use, by the reflection to one side when the light is from the side and also preventing the blurring which occurs with the sights now in use when shooting in the bright sunlight.

Another object of my invention is to provide a sight which will appear of the same color whether the hunter has the light at his back or in his eyes, whether he is in the bright daylight of the open or the twilight obscurity of dark timber and thick woods, or whether it is a pleasant summer day or a bleak winter one with snow everywhere.

These objects 1 accomplish in the manner and by the means hereinafter more fully described in detail and particularly pointed out in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference-letters indicate like parts in both figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my sight, and Fig. 2 a side view of the same in place on the barrel of a rifle.

My invention consists of a base A of any suitable material, preferably steel, adapted to be secured upon the front end of a riflebarrel in the usual way. The base A is provided with a dovetailed groove a, extending in the direction of the length of the rifle-barrel. A shank Bis fitted to slide in the groove a, where the shank B is brazed solid to the base A. The sides of the shank B are hollowed out from the bottom to the top. .The top of the shank B is provided with a round rib or head 0 and curves downward toward the muzzle of the ride. of the rifle the shank curves downward, and a portion of its top is cut away. to forma seat for the head 0, composed of gold or copper or a Toward the breechcombination thereof, the bead bcin g set in the seat in the shank B with its larger end toward the breech of the rifle, said end projecting in relief from the shank and brazed thereto. The bead C is round in cross-section and increases in diameter toward the breech of the rifle until it reaches a point where it projects in relief from the shank, from which point it is given a conoidal shape. The tapering form of the front portion of the bead 0 causes the light which strikes the bead forward of the point of its greatest diameter not to interfere with the aim, and the circle formed by a plane passing through the bead O-at the point of its greatest-diameter forms a barrier, in the rear of which a central light is produced at the point of the head, the conoidal shape of the end of the bead toward the breech of the rifle causing the person using the rifle to see nothing of the shank B when aiming at an object except a narrow tapering stem surmounted by the rounded end of the bead C. The shape of'the end of the bead 0 causes a central light on such end, no matter from what point the light strikes it, and therefore always presents to the eye of the person using a ride with suci sight, as it were, simply a point of light. @l he color-gold, copper, or gold and coppe cdinbined-stands out always the same, no matter what the background may be,whetherlightor dark,whether the light is good or bad, and generally under all circumstances. The way the bead C is fixed in the shank B causes the person using a rifle to see nothing below the head 0 but a small supporting-stein and nothing else.ex cept the circle formed on the plane of the greatest diameter of the bead O and renders 9c injury to or destruction of the bead (3 almost impossible.

Having thus described my invention, what 7 I claim as new, and desire-to secure by Letters Patent, is 5 1. A sight for firearms comprising a shank provided with a bead on its upper edge, said bead tapering toward the front of the sight and having its rear end conoidal in form and V fprojecting in relief from the shank, substan- ICO tially as shown and described.

2. A sight for firearms comprising an elongated shank provided with a bead on its upper edge, said shank and bead tapering toprovided with a head on its upper edge, said head tapering toward the front of .the sight I 5 and having its rear end eonoidal in form and projecting in relief from the shank, and the rear end of the shank curved downward, substantiai] y as shown and described. t.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix my sig- 2o nature in the presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM F. SIIEARD.

stantially as shown and described.

4. A sight for firearms comprising a base,

-an upwardly-tapering shank carried thereby Witnesses:

L. D. CRAIG, LoUIs D. CAMPBELL. 

